An assistant manager with Zenith Bank, Ifeoma Ogbonnaya has testified against former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.
Gatekeepers News reports that Emefiele and his co-defendant, Henry Omoile are facing trial on a 26-count charge at Ikeja special offences court in Lagos.
Emefiele and Omoile pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
At the resumption of hearing on Tuesday, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) presented the assistant manager as fifth witness.
She told the court that Emefiele used Zenith Bank to transfer funds to Margaret, his wife, through various companies.
Stating that she managed the various accounts of the companies, Ogbonnaya said she received instructions from Margaret regarding the accounts.
Ogbonnaya added she also received instructions from two other people — John Ogah and Opeyemi Oludimu — who worked for Emefiele.
The assistant manager revealed that the accounts received cash from apex bank to the tune of N18.9 million and N1.8 million at different times in March 2015.
Ogbonnaya said, “Mrs Margaret Emefiele, the ex-CBN governor’s wife, is the direct beneficiary of the accounts.”
“The companies sent transfer instructions to my email and Margaret is the beneficial owner of the accounts.”
“All transactions made in the accounts were confirmed by Mrs Emefiele before they were processed.”
“She sends transfer instructions directly to my official email address with Zenith Bank or sends two other persons to act on her behalf but I still receive approval from her.”
She further revealed the companies that received the cash as Amswing Resources and Solution, Limelight Dimensional Service Ltd, Omec Support Service Ltd, and Mango Farm.
The witness said, “Limelight manages the facilities of CBN, located at Alakija and all transactions pertaining to power and fixing things that are not working.”
During the proceedings, the court admitted into evidence the certificate of identification, and a bundle of printed documents, following “no objections” from the defence.
The witness used the documents submitted to explain the inflow and outflow of funds sent from CBN through Zenith Bank to Emefiele’s wife.
